Dean L. Larsen

Presidency of the Seventy (February 22, 1980 – August 15, 1993)
First Quorum of the Seventy (October 1, 1976 – October 4, 1997)

General Conference Addresses

• October 1992 General Conference
  • The Lord Will Prosper the Righteous
    • “The Lord has demonstrated throughout the generations that when the inhabitants of the earth remember him and are obedient to his direction, he will bless them not only with spiritual blessings, but with material abundance as well.”
    • “It has always been so. When the lives of the people are in harmony with the Lord’s will, all of the essential factors that produce the blessings God deigns to give to his children seem to come into line. Love and harmony prevail. Even the weather, the climate, and the elements seem to respond. Peace and tranquillity endure. Industry and progress mark the lives of the people.”
    • “It is one thing to look back upon the events of history. It is another to regard our own time. We have the Lord’s assurance that he will bless and prosper his people if they will keep his commandments and remember to look to him as the source of their blessings.”
• April 1991 General Conference
  • “Beware Lest Thou Forget the Lord”
    • “The concerns expressed by Moses for his people have been repeated by other prophet leaders through all of the gospel dispensations. It has seemed that one of the inevitable side effects that occurs as people apply gospel principles in their lives is that their material circumstances also improve. This does not suggest that it should be the right nor the expectation of all who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ to become wealthy in the possession of the world’s goods. The Lord has made it clear, however, that when his people are obedient, he desires to bless them with the necessities and the comforts of life so that none should live in want.”
    • “Not long after the early Latter-day Saints had entered the Salt Lake Valley, and as they struggled in their poverty to establish homes and to survive in a land that had been a wilderness, reports came of the discovery of gold in northern California. The news spread to all parts of the country, and fortune hunters passing through the Salt Lake area en route to the gold fields spoke of their hopes for striking it rich in the newly discovered bonanza. It was a great temptation to some of the Saints who were so destitute in their own circumstances.”
    • “Wealth is a relative thing. Conditions vary dramatically from place to place in the world today. That which some consider to be the necessities of life, to others would be abundance, and even extravagance. In any set of circumstances, the challenges related to an improvement in material prosperity remain the same.”
• October 1989 General Conference
  • Winding Up Our Spiritual Clocks
    • “Sometimes when I am rewinding this clock, I think how good it would be if I could restore my physical powers to their youthful vigor in a manner as simple as this. I suppose increasing age sometimes brings these thoughts to all who move into the later years of life.”
    • “As I think of these sobering realities, there comes to mind another figurative clock that operates within me. It is my spiritual clock. It has some similarities to the physical one. It, too, needs regular winding to stay in time and keep its true tone. Unlike the physical clock, however, the spiritual one is not necessarily destined for dissolution. In fact, with proper attention and regular care it grows more vigorous—more perfect in its operation, more clear and resonant in its tones. But this is not an automatic process. Just as with the clock that hangs on our kitchen wall, unless there is a regular winding up of the mechanism, a spiritual sluggishness develops, the spiritual tone becomes off-key, and, unless something is done to correct the winding-down process, the clock can stop.”
    • “In the world’s environment today, spiritual clocks that do not receive regular attention can wind down very quickly.”
    • “Earnest, sincere prayer is an essential ingredient in maintaining spiritual tone.”
    • “One of the most effective ways to wind up our spiritual clocks is to worship on the Sabbath day and partake of the sacrament.”
• October 1987 General Conference
  • Looking beyond the Mark
    • “Jacob speaks of people who placed themselves in serious jeopardy in spiritual things because they were unwilling to accept simple, basic principles of truth. They entertained and intrigued themselves with “things that they could not understand” (Jacob 4:14). They were apparently afflicted with a pseudosophistication and a snobbishness that gave them a false sense of superiority over those who came among them with the Lord’s words of plainness. They went beyond the mark of wisdom and prudence, and obviously failed to stay within the circle of fundamental gospel truths, which provide a basis for faith. They must have reveled in speculative and theoretical matters that obscured for them the fundamental spiritual truths. As they became infatuated by these “things that they could not understand,” their comprehension of and faith in the redeeming role of a true Messiah was lost, and the purpose of life became confused. A study of Israel’s history will confirm Jacob’s allegations.”
    • “I am going to give more time and attention to the study and pondering of the scriptures themselves, rather than to the commentaries and criticisms that others have written about them. In doing this, I am going to be as open as I can be to the Spirit of the Lord so that I can understand these things for myself.”
    • “I am much more concerned about understanding the admonitions of Samuel the Lamanite as he stood on the walls of the city of Zarahemla and called the rebellious Nephites to repentance than I am about identifying the location of that city in today’s geography.”
    • “I am more vitally interested in what the Father and the Son commissioned Joseph Smith to do, and the fruits of his prophetic labors, than I am in whether he made mention of one divine personage or two in his initial recounting of the First Vision.”
    • “I am going to try to be more earnest in teaching what the Savior would have me teach and be less concerned about having my own biases aired. If I am going to influence others, I want to influence them toward the things that promote faith rather than to unsettle them with speculation and questions that cannot be resolved.”
    • “In today’s complicated world with its diversity of demands and sometimes distracting voices, it is so important for us to keep our eyes upon the basic things that matter most and that will have the greatest eternal consequence for us.”
• October 1985 General Conference
  • By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them
    • “In my remarks today I do not wish to make any assessment of the validity of the newly discovered documents nor the extent to which they might, in the eyes of some, affect the reconstruction of Church history. I would like, instead, to point to some ultimate tests that can be applied to determine the divine nature of any religious work. These are tests which the Lord himself prescribed. They overreach the tentative significance of any historical document that may survive the passage of time, whether it relates to specific events or to the people who participated in the events. The Lord’s work is known by its fruits. Often, documents of historical interest reflect, at best, the way one individual recalls or perceives events or the actions and motives of those who participated in them. Such reflections may be interesting, but they may not always be accurate. They may even tell more about the one doing the reflecting than the one being reflected upon.”
    • “Joseph Smith declared that his work was the Lord’s work. His credentials as a prophet of God are not adequately tested by historical relics. The fruits of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are the real test of Joseph and his work.”
    • “Those who receive the gospel are expected to manifest its fruits in their lives, not only for their own benefit and blessing, but for the purpose of drawing others to the truth.”
    • “Enjoying the fruits of the gospel should not make us arrogant and aloof, but it should set us apart from the world in much of our conduct.”
• October 1984 General Conference
  • Coordination and Cooperation
    • “Now, finally, I’d like to pay a special tribute to all of you sisters for being who you are, in recognition of the unique contributions that you bring to the quality of life that we all enjoy and to which we aspire. The longer I live and the more I observe, the more convinced I become that there are some basic differences in the very natures of men and women. I’m convinced that you carry with you, by virtue of these unique differences, some qualities and some traits that allow you to make contributions that are uniquely your own. I don’t know of a better way to illustrate this than to share with you quickly a recent experience.”
• April 1983 General Conference
  • A Royal Generation
    • “Young men, I do not believe that you are here upon the earth at this time by accident. I believe you qualified in the premortal life to come into mortality at a time when great things would be required of you. I believe you demonstrated before you came here that you were capable of being trusted under unusually difficult circumstances—that you could measure up to the most difficult challenges. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t suggest that you are inherently better than or superior to any of the other generations that have come to the earth. You do not automatically qualify for any more blessings or advantages than anyone else who has lived since the earth was created. You can go astray, become involved in transgression, and incur the judgments of God as readily as any who have preceded you here. In fact, you live in an environment in which it is probably as easy to disqualify yourselves in this way as any generation has ever experienced. But God trusts that you will not. He relies upon you to keep yourselves eligible to accomplish the monumental tasks that he expects you to achieve.”
    • “The challenging conditions we find in the world today should be no surprise to us. As we approach the time of the Savior’s return, wickedness will increase. There will be more temptations in our daily lives, and they will become more intense. It will become more acceptable in the world to break the laws of God or to disregard them altogether. The stigma attached to immoral, dishonest behavior will disappear.”
    • “It is not enough to simply declare that we are a chosen people of the Lord. We must keep the trust he has given us. We must qualify for his blessing by the way we remain different from the world in our obedience to his laws. Otherwise, we have no promise, and our fate will be the fate of the world.”
• October 1981 General Conference
  • The Strength of the Kingdom Is Within
    • “But what of the kingdom that is within our own souls? There are evidences that we are not completely free from weaknesses within. Family problems multiply. Divorce becomes more common. Signs of preoccupation with worldly, material concerns are apparent on every side. Questionable compliance with principles of trust and integrity in business dealings is too frequent. Courtesy and kindness are too often replaced by abruptness and rudeness in human relations. Growing evidences of promiscuity and infidelity to marriage covenants beset us.”
    • “For those who keep the trust placed in them and who do not yield to the pattern of the times, and for those who have made or are making their way back from dark paths, I have the most profound admiration and gratitude. You are our shining hope. You are our real strength. You will make a significant difference in the final outcome of things. You are the last great counterforce against the evil that is engulfing the earth. God bless you for this!”
• April 1980 General Conference
  • Self-Accountability and Human Progress
    • “The existence of laws, regulations, and procedures has never been sufficient to compel men to obedience. Productive obedience comes through the exercise of free will.”
    • “Programmed behavior cannot produce the level of spiritual development required to qualify one for eternal life. A necessary range of freedom and self-determination is essential to one’s spiritual development. With an understanding of correct principles and an intrinsic desire to apply them, one must be motivated within himself to do many good things of his own free will; for, as the revelation says, the power is in him wherein he is an agent unto himself.”
    • “When members of the Church exercise self-determination in their application of gospel principles they need not relax in their compliance with these principles. In fact, optimum progress can only occur when conditions are ideal for it, and these conditions must include the necessary degree of freedom and self-accountability. Anything less will guarantee stunted spiritual growth.”
• October 1978 General Conference
  • Faith, Courage, and Making Choices
    • “We may occasionally find ourselves in situations where we are tempted to set aside our identity as Latter-day Saints while we indulge in some thought or act that is unworthy of the trust the Lord has placed in us. We are regularly required to make choices on the basis of what we know to be right. We are free in most instances to make our own decisions, but we are never free to determine the final outcomes of our choices.”
    • “It is not enough for us to know what is right and to believe it is good. We must be willing to stand up and be counted. We must be willing to act in accordance with what we believe under all circumstances. It is of little value for us to believe one way if we behave contrary to that belief in our private actions or in our public performance.”
• October 1976 General Conference
  • I Am the Vine, Ye Are the Branches
    • “Since receiving a phone call several days ago from President Kimball, in an attempt to maintain some equilibrium, I’ve been pretending that things would be the same again for me; I know they will not, and I desire with all my heart the sustaining influence of the Lord and the influence of your faith and prayers as I accept this new assignment. I have told the Lord that I am his to use however he sees fit.”

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